Why is North Korea now best friends with South Korea? It doesn’t make sense. Their desire to be a part of the Olympics seems sudden and out of character for a regime that rejects any effort to be diplomatic. Since he took over North Korea in late 2011, Supreme Leader Kim Jung-un has not been the model of rational behavior so why now is he making the effort to reunite with his sworn enemy, South Korea?

The Olympic rings in Hoenggye town, South Korea

At the time I’m writing this it is about 9:00 pm PST on Thursday, 8 February. The opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics will begin in about six hours (8:00 pm KST in South Korea, 3:00 am PST.) My hope is that when I wake tomorrow morning that there will not be ‘Breaking News’ from the Olympics. I am not an expert on North Korea, but taking part in a public show of world unity is not what I would expect from Kim Jung-un.

A military parade the day before the opening ceremonies?

Mixed Messages, Being Loud and Clear?

It also seems suspicious that at the same time he is reaching out to South Korea, he also plays up his military with a massive public parade on the day prior to the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. It cannot be a coincidence, as it was clearly intended to be an aggressive display.

Many intelligence agencies around the world closely watch North Korea 24/7/365 so it is unlikely that they could be planning a major strike against South Korea during the Olympic games. Satellites are most likely tracking all North Korea military movements and someone would be aware of any questionable actions.

However, no one can track all actions by agents of an enemy country and North Korea doesn’t need to make a military strike to cause chaos at in South Korea.

Shadows of 1976?

The 1976 Summer Olympic games in Munich, Germany commanded international attention when the athletes from Israel were kidnapped, and eventually died in a rescue attempt. The incident changed the Olympics from a place of harmony and sportsmanship to an event of terror. That would seem to be more in character with the motives of Kim Jung-un than an intention of good will.